Look at the University of Texas—they brought in over $200 million in athletic revenue last year. But their swim team? The gymnasts? They're not getting a dime from that pie. If we start paying athletes, who gets paid? The quarterback, sure. The star basketball player, probably. But the 15th person on the track team? They're still just getting a jersey. The problem is, paying athletes turns college sports into a job. And once it's a job, where's the line? You can't pay everyone equally because the revenue isn't equal. So you create a system where some kids are "employees" and others are just... there. That's not fair either. Scholarships already cover tuition, room, board—that's a pretty solid deal. It's not perfect, but opening the pay door leads to a messy, uneven landscape.

I was talking to a friend who ran track in college. She said the best part wasn't the competition—it was that she could focus on her engineering degree without debt. That's the part I think we're missing here. Scholarships already open doors that most people never get. My opponent's first argument was a joke, but it actually points to something real. If we start paying athletes, where does the money come from? It's not like schools have cash trees growing in the stadium parking lot. Most athletic departments outside the top 20 actually lose money. So paying athletes means either cutting other sports or jacking up student fees. Neither sounds like a win to me. The scholarship system isn't perfect, sure. But it's a pretty solid foundation. Paying athletes feels like tearing down a working house to build a skyscraper we can't afford.

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